A Length of Ribbon
by Deena
Summary: Fujin and Seifer spend the night together in a rain storm *complete and utter sap*


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A Length of Ribbon  
**********************  
  
Like a bolt of silken ribbon unraveling, the wind curled around her. It swept through jagged   
pewter locks, imprinting upon wan skin like a drying memory. Her half-scarlet gaze was swallowed   
into the inky night, made viscous with murky shadows and broken lies.   
  
It was silent, oppressively so. Despite the wind that twisted, the night was drenched in   
stillness. Tranquility didn't accompany this harsh hush for it was the silence of despair after   
pain. The unearthly quiet that came when all hope has vanquished and scathing wrongs puddled the   
intellect.  
  
Even after Ultimecia's demise, so many things remained tangled. Her emotions especially, crackled  
beneath the semblance of a now-normal life. Perhaps there was a clarity that hadn't been present   
before but with it came a marring uncertainty. Beyond eye patches and speech impediments was   
vulnerability like a fractured nerve. Raw and bleeding, weak and cracked.  
  
She sighed, the gentle sound dissolving into the night. The sky was hidden under a veil of wispy   
clouds and it saddened her. She had wanted to see the stars, to see something smiling down upon   
her.  
  
To know that maybe, somehow, she had done something right.   
  
Ivory fingers reached up to tug at ashen locks. She hated her hair, the color as well as its   
choppy length. Pulling it seemed right, like scratching at her scar. Little punishments, things   
she deserved, because she couldn't possibly be more unattractive.  
  
**Hair like dust  
Eyes like rust**  
  
A strangled laughed filtered past pallid lips. How romantically appealing.   
  
"REPULSIVE," she murmured, her voice echoing between the grass blades and across the small, still  
field. "HAIR REPULSIVE." Her fingers slipped down over her eye patch, the black material rough   
against her skin. "FUJIN REPULSIVE."  
  
And it was the truth, because who knew her better than she knew herself?  
  
The sky darkened and time passed as though winding upon a spindle. Slowly and languidly it spun   
and she had no idea how long she'd been sitting on the soft grass, saturated in shadowy silence.   
  
Time was marked and she was brought back to herself with the sound of smooth footprints muffled   
by the grass. Unconsciously, she stiffened, her hands gripping each other tightly.  
  
Fujin knew his presence anywhere, was able to feel him in a crowd of thousands. She was linked   
to him, whether he knew it or she liked it. It would always be that way and even a sorceress   
couldn't come between them. For after Edea and Ultimecia, Seifer had returned to her. He was   
hers, not in the way that she wanted, but he still was hers. And that couldn't be taken away, she  
wouldn't let it. She had left his side once and it had been beyond unbearable. Another moment   
like that and she wouldn't be so strong.   
  
"Fujin? What're you doing out here in the cold?"  
  
She didn't look up at him, not wanting to see at his face and the friendly worry it would hold.   
"COLD, NOT."   
  
"You've been out here for a while. Are you alright?"  
  
"CONCERN UNNECESSARY."  
  
He sighed and settled down beside her. "Fujin."  
  
Nobody could say her name like he did. It sounded cloyingly sweet, slipping from his mouth like   
melting chocolate. He made her sound beautiful and wanted, as though she could rival Rinoa   
Heartilly. But she knew better, she knew her own worth. "WHAT?"  
  
"Tell me what's wrong."  
  
"NOTHING," she snapped, unaware that she was glaring out into the obscure darkness. "PITY   
UNWANTED."  
  
"I'm not pitying you," he retorted, his patience beginning to tatter at her curt evasiveness. He   
had always been quick to temper but lately he'd been curbing it. As he did now, his voice s  
oftening slightly. "You've been a little off these past few days and I'm just worried about you.   
Raijin's worried too, or least he was before he fell asleep."  
  
Fujin looked over at him for the first time that night, meeting fathomless ocean-colored eyes.   
Wan lips curved into a reluctant smile. "SEIFER LYING," she accused, poking his arm with a   
slender finger. "RAIJIN SNORING. SEIFER LEAVE. FIND ME, ACCIDENT."  
  
Aristocratic features slid into a smirk. "Yeah, you're right. I don't care about you at all.   
Afterall, we both know how it is when Raijin snores."  
  
"SKY EXPLODING," she stated firmly, making a face. She knew all to well how loudly her large   
friend could snore.  
  
"Yeah, pretty much."   
  
A silence settled between them as Fujin didn't respond. She clutched at the grass beside her,   
trying to control her ire. Seifer was staring at her, deliberately so. He knew that she hated to   
be stared at and now he was purposely doing it to intimidate her into talking. Well she could be   
just as obstinate as he was.  
  
"I won't stop until you spill," he threatened smugly, his gaze tracing her scowling features.   
  
She ripped out a handful of grass and flung it at him. "RAGE! SEIFER ASSHOLE!"  
  
"FUJIN STUBBORN," he mocked, throwing a clump of grass back at her.  
  
"RIDICULE NOT FUNNY," she fumed, folding her arms across her chest and glowering at the tall   
blond.  
  
"Alright, alright," he conceded, brushing grass from his hair with gloved fingers. "But I'm not   
leaving until you talk, Fujin." His hand curved briefly around her shoulder blade. "You're my   
posse. I don't like seeing you sad."  
  
"SAD, NOT." Her shoulder sizzled from the fleeting touch and she wished for the friendly gesture   
to be repeated. How long had she secretly wanted to be held by Seifer? Surely as long as they'd   
been a posse. Even as she knew that she was only his friend; as she watched him holding Rinoa.  
  
She pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her cheek against the rough fabric of her olive-  
green cargo pants, hiding her face from inquisitive blue eyes. "CONTEMPLATING," she finally   
mumbled because she knew that her own stubbornness was rivaled only by Seifer's. "WORLD, STRANGE.  
DON'T UNDERSTAND."  
  
"Yeah, me either." Seifer exhaled nosily. "It's weird. I never thought that I'd be accepted back   
at the Garden. It almost seems like nothing's changed and yet, so much has. I don't even know why  
they took me back after what I did."  
  
Fujin frowned. She hated hearing Seifer put himself down. Lately, he'd been doing it constantly.   
It hurt her, hearing the once self-assured blond disparage himself. Yes, he had made a mistake   
but did he have to be reminded of it at every turn? Their classmates were bad enough and Fujin   
had beaten more than her fair share of big-mouthed, rude losers. As it was, Seifer didn't bother   
to defend himself. He felt that he deserved the humiliation but she thought that it was a load of  
shit. After the horror of being possessed by Ultimecia, he deserved a break not rejection.   
  
"EDEA ACCEPTED. SEIFER ACCEPTED ALSO. FAIR."  
  
"Not fair, Fujin," he contradicted gently. "Edea was kind before Ultimecia. She was and still is,  
a good person. I wasn't. I don't deserv-"  
  
Before Fujin knew what she was doing, she had raised her head and placed her hand upon Seifer's   
mouth. "SEIFER, GOOD HEART," she murmured thickly. His lips were smooth and silk-like against her  
hand and she could feel his breath tickling her palm. Her heartbeat accelerated swiftly at their   
close proximity. She swallowed audibly. "I KNOW."  
  
Time halted and spread between them like a length of ribbon. Her gaze was eaten up by a pair of   
sapphire-tinted eyes and she couldn't look away. Something rippled between them, something that   
was nameless and new. His eyes were a blue liquid and they gently washed over her, entwining   
about the static awareness that coursed around them.   
  
Her hand trembled and only then did she realize that it was still pressed against Seifer's mouth.  
Crimson heat spilled into pale cheeks as she hurriedly snatched her hand away.   
  
He smiled at that instant, at her and for her. It was a pure smile, sweet and striking. So unlike  
the jeering sneers and sardonic smirks that usually graced his elegant features. If she hadn't   
already fallen for him, then his smile surely would have caught her.   
  
"I don't know what I'd do without you, Fujin," he whispered, leather-covered fingers reaching   
over to brush silver locks from her eye. "You're something special, you know that?"  
  
"NOT SPECIAL," she uttered, feeling frozen as Seifer's fingers lingered over her blushing cheek.   
Her heart was rattling furiously in her chest and she was shivering. Seifer must have been able   
to feel it, surely he had to know the effect he was having on her.  
  
And then there was room for no more words as it suddenly began to rain. The sky burst apart and   
they were drenched in an instant. Water was everywhere, sliding between soggy grass blades,   
streaming over the cobblestone sidewalk, seeping into their pores.  
  
Wet leather fingers circled around her wrist, pulling her to her feet. She had to run to keep up   
with his long-legged strides, as he led her through the rain and soggy field.  
  
Fujin followed Seifer blindly as the rain came down in strong torrents. The wind shrieked,   
whipping through her hair and yanking at Seifer's trench coat. She had never really liked rain   
storms but now, with Seifer's hand clamped around her wrist, it felt right. Wonderfully right.  
  
He dragged her off the small field, across the empty street and under the striped awning of   
Balamb's specialty candy shop.   
  
"You okay?" Seifer asked, letting go of her wrist to wipe at his sodden face.  
  
She nodded, raking a hand through her dripping hair. "RAIN SUDDEN."  
  
"Yeah." He watched her for a moment before smirking. "You've got grass in your hair."  
  
"FAULT YOURS," she retorted, mock-scowling at him.  
  
"Is that so?" he demanded, arching one elegant eyebrow. "You're forgetting that you started the   
whole thing." He took a step towards her, invading her personal space.  
  
One scarlet eye grew large as Fujin moved away, her back coming up against the candy shop's door. "SEIFER?"  
  
He opened his mouth to respond but apparently he changed his mind because his lips closed and he   
said nothing at all. Blue eyes stared at her, not deliberately but as if they were seeing her for  
the first time.  
  
Fujin swallowed nervously. She had never seen Seifer look as he was looking at her now and it was  
unnerving. She knew Seifer's every expression but this one was completely new.   
  
He took a step closer to her, mere inches stretching between them, his gaze never leaving hers.   
She was used to feeling short since Seifer and Rajin both towered over her but at that moment,   
Fujin had never felt smaller, weaker, and so utterly female, in all her life. She had to tilt her  
head up to meet his eyes, a darkened blue look that reflected the night storm swishing around   
them.   
  
A piercing awareness shrouded her then; how much larger and stronger Seifer was in comparison to   
her. There were other things too; the deliciously masculine way he smelled, the way his soggy   
clothes had molded themselves against his lean chest, the drenched blond locks that dipped into   
his eyes.  
  
"STARING," she managed to get out, forcing herself to remain calm. Her right hand clutched the   
doorknob of the candy shop while the other was fisted against her thigh. She desperately   
struggled to calm the rapid beating of her heart but had little luck. Seifer was simply too close  
for her piece of mind.  
  
He didn't appear to hear her. "Hold still Fuu," he murmured, calling her by her old nickname,   
something that he hadn't done since before Ultimecia. He reached out and his gloved hand slipped   
into her damp hair.  
  
Her eye widened. "DOING, WHAT?!"  
  
He grinned down at her, another heart-stopping, body-melting, charming smile that ensured that   
she would surely die happily. "As you so candidly pointed out..." He pulled his hand away from   
her hair, a blade of grass held between black fingers. "This is my fault." He dropped the piece   
of grass and then pulled off his glove. "I wouldn't be much of a Knight if I left my lady in the   
midst of such an aesthetical crisis, don't you think?"  
  
Fujin stared up at the blond man in disbelief. Was Seifer *flirting* with her? He had never,   
ever, even *once*, flirted with her. He treated her as he did Raijin, like a best friend. And   
even beyond that, he was acting more like his old self. Before, he had flirted and charmed ladies  
all over the place. When he wanted, Seifer could be as much a ladies man as Irvine was. After   
Ultimecia, his interest in women had dwindled into nothing. He kept to himself, spending time   
with only herself and Raijin. And now, here he was, acting as if she was a beautiful girl, worthy  
of his attentions.  
  
A shudder wracked through her slender frame at the feel of Seifer's naked finger shifting into   
her hair. "NOT LADY," she told him, her voice raspy and nearly inaudible against the runny patter  
of the rain.   
  
"Well that makes us even," he replied, his breath cool against her forehead. "Because I'm not a   
Knight anymore."  
  
"KNIGHT ALWAYS." She tilted her head away from his smooth hand, her hair gliding over his skin.   
"HAIR UGLY. DON'T CARE."   
  
"Fujin." He caught a damp lock of hair that curved against her cheek and rubbed it between his   
thumb and index finger. "Your hair isn't ugly. It's beautiful."  
  
"LYING," she accused flatly, looking away. "COLOR STUPID. SHORT."  
  
"Silver isn't a stupid color," he responded gently, letting loose her hair. He cradled her cheek   
in one long, deft hand. "Silver is exotic. It's polished and strong and able." His fingertips   
lightly skimmed over her cheekbone. "Like you."  
  
A thousand things hovered against her lips and she cursed herself for not being able to express   
even one of them. Why was she cursed to speak in loud, monosyllabic words, none of which she   
could find to ask or say? What did Seifer mean, complimenting her like that? What was he trying   
to say to her? How could she be anything other than ugly, especially after Rinoa Heartilly?  
  
Thoughts raced into her mind, fizzling like electricity and she finally found one word. She met   
his gaze squarely. "WHY?"  
  
He must have been able to see the endless questions marring her eye. "No one has ever told me   
that I have a good heart," he whispered, his voice quiet against the stormy night.   
  
"TRUTH," she replied simply, crushing the urge to take him into her arms and never let go.  
  
"And no one," he continued solemnly, letting his hand fall away from her face. "has ever   
as beautiful as you do now."  
  
His gentle words melted into her very being like fluid ice. She froze, her throat contricting   
tightly as she strove to make sense of what he had just said to her.  
  
Beautiful.  
  
Seifer had called her beautiful.  
  
"RINOA BEAUTIFUL," she grated out, looking down. Jagged bags swept over her eye and she was glad   
for their protection. Seifer's sweet words and kind hands were percolating into her skin,   
breezing into her closed heart. She was so close to being stripped, to being left vulnerable and   
alone. It was too much, to be exposed by the only man who could truly wound her.  
  
"Rinoa attractive," he corrected, his hands circling her waist. "Fujin beautiful."  
  
She gasped as he suddenly pressed his hard body against her, sealing her to him. She squirmed for  
a moment, trapped between him and the candy shop door.   
  
His hands slid from her waist and came to rest upon the door, on either side of her head,   
effectively halting her movements. Chiseled lips lingered over pale ones, deep eyes staring down   
at her. "Kiss me Fuu," Seifer ordered throatily, his breath titillating her skin.  
  
Hundreds of hypersensitive shivers zipped down her spine and puddled deep in her stomach. She was  
a gooey mess inside; the feel of Seifer's body against her own inadvertently reducing her into an  
irrational idiot. She would do anything for Seifer, even this. Especially this.  
  
Reason fell apart and nothing seemed to matter as her eye fell shut and lips parted. The   
slightest lift of her chin and her mouth touched his.  
  
Fujin had never been kissed before because no one had ever wanted to kiss her. She couldn't blame  
them. Why would anyone want to kiss a one-eyed albino with a talking problem? It was unheard of   
and yet, here she was, kissing Seifer. The man she would love, quietly and desperately, forever.  
  
His mouth was hard and silky, tasting of oranges and coffee and liquid passion. He lapped at her   
lips, tracing and marking. She parted them with a tiny gasp and his tongue swept into her mouth.   
He was everywhere, stroking and licking, exploring further into her.  
  
Pure passion twisted around her, pushing against and within her. She clung to Seifer's shoulders,  
ivory hands fisted into the wet material of his trench coat. Their kiss grew deeper and he ate at  
her, his body pushing against her roughly. And Fujin didn't know where she ended and he started,   
so close they were.  
  
The rain stopped as their eyes met.   
  
"KISS NOW. WHY?" she asked, letting go of his shoulders with a faint blush.  
  
"Why did I want to kiss you now?" he clarified.  
  
She nodded.  
  
He caught her hands and forced them back onto his shoulders, holding her to him. "Sometimes its   
hard to see what's right in front of you."  
  
Thin brows came together in a frown. "MEANING?"  
  
Seifer didn't answer her question. Instead, his lips grazed the corner of her mouth, her cheek.   
"We're scarred, you and I."  
  
"DON'T UNDERSTAND," she gasped, quivering as he deliberately moved his hips against hers. "SEIFER  
WEIRD."  
  
His voice was like a ripple of butterscotch, curving over. "Am I scaring you, Fuu?"  
  
"NOT SCARED," she managed to force out, her breathing growing labored as his mouth brushed upon   
the arc of her ear. "WORRIED. FEVER?"  
  
"I don't have a fever," he murmured, his soft breath dripping against the sensitive skin of her   
ear. "Why is it so hard to believe that I want you?"  
  
"WANT," she echoed thinly. "WHY WANT?"  
  
He pulled away slightly so that he could look into her eye. "When you put your hand on my mouth,  
I felt something. There's something in your touch Fujin. Something I've never felt before." He   
seized her right hand and brought it up to his face, cradling his cheek against thin, ivory   
fingers. "So much time has passed and only tonight I've realized how beautiful you are." He   
turned his head and pressed a kiss upon her palm. "And don't tell me that you're ugly because I   
don't believe that."  
  
Fujin melted. Her intellect and reason and emotions all gushed together, leaving behind nothing   
but a twisting stomach and shortness of breath and a smooth cheek against her palm. She should   
have pulled away, she should have stopped him. Because it couldn't be possible, that he could   
love someone like her. But his words and his touches disproved her thoughts and she was left   
standing before him, defenseless and weak.  
  
She loved him. And even one moment would be enough to risk all, wouldn't it?  
  
Of their own accord, her fingers moved over his face. Skimming over his cheekbone and chiseled   
mouth, finally able to touch him. Seifer was wrong this time. She wasn't the beautiful one, he   
was.   
  
He watched her with dark eyes, tracing her features visually as she did the same manually. "Stay   
with me tonight, Fujin."  
  
Her gaze flew to his as her hand fell away. "WHAT?!"   
  
"You feel it too, don't you?" he asked quietly, pulling her into his arms. His lips smoothed over  
her temple, grazing her bangs. "There's something between us now, something that's never been   
here before." His hands shifted to clasp her back, pushing her breasts firmly against his chest.   
"I don't care what it is. All I know is that I need you tonight."  
  
Fujin clung to the damp lapels of his coat. "NEED?"  
  
"Something about you in the rain," he responded, tightening his hold around her. "Something about  
the way you feel in my arms. Your touch. Everything about tonight, about you, it's enough to   
drive me crazy. I don't know if it's magic or what but I've never felt this way about anyone   
before. It's like nothing exists but you and me. And I just..." he trailed off, uncertain of how   
to voice everything he was feeling.  
  
"FIRST DAY, LOVE," she confessed, the words just spilling from her mouth. She couldn't help   
herself, not when he was saying things that she had only dreamed of hearing. She should have kept  
silent but it was just like kissing him. Too sweet to refuse, especially since she had wanted it   
for so long. "LOVE NOW. ALWAYS."  
  
He kissed her, placing his words into her mouth. She didn't need to hear them because for now,   
even this was more than enough. Lust sizzled between them and she could feel his desire for her.   
So maybe, she could believe that he really did find her beautiful.  
  
They matched, both scarred, both different.  
  
"It's getting late," he finally said, his breathing heavy. "We should be getting back to the   
hotel."   
  
She nodded, her heartbeat throbbing. "LATE. WET. COLD."  
  
To her great shock, Seifer leered at her. "I'll keep you warm," he promised, smirking.   
  
It took Fujin a few moments before she could speak. She was used to Seifer's leering and ogling   
but it had never been turned on her before. She managed a glare and lightly punched his arm.   
"PERVERT!"  
  
"That's why you love me," he replied smugly. One long finger poked at her cheek. "You're cute   
when you're blushing, Fuu."  
  
"KITTENS CUTE. BABIES CUTE," Fujin declared as Seifer caught her hand and led her out from under   
the canopy. "FUJIN DEADLY."  
  
"Cute and deadly," Seifer mused as they walked past a row of empty shops. "I think that describes  
you perfectly." His hand squeezed her fingers. "My Lady."  
  
Fujin smiled at the tall blond, at the man who would always remain her Knight.  
  
And far above her, the inky night was painted with stars that shimmered down at her.  
  
~*~OWARI~*~ 


End file.
